The objective of Anthony Jr.'s ( 9) rapid review was to give theoretical and practical evidence on the value of telemedicine and virtual care for the distant treatment of patients during the COVID-19 pandemic in all countries. However, large-scale, high-quality clinical trials are necessary to establish the efficacy and utility of telemedicine in hypertension therapy. They concluded that telemedicine may be an effective technique for boosting access to care and enhancing outcomes for hypertension in LMICs, especially during events that limit access to in-person care, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. ( 8), who investigated telemedicine interventions for blood pressure control in LMICs and found that blood pressure was significantly reduced in telemedicine interventions, although the magnitude of the impact was not always substantial.

Prior research includes, for example, a scoping review conducted by Hoffer-Hawlik et al. Furthermore, telemedicine may help with counseling in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic since specific advice can be given to patients, for example, dos and don'ts in COVID-19 prevention ( 7). Teletriage, a subtype of telemedicine, has been identified as “a crucial method for managing disease epidemics,” as patients can be triaged before they arrive at healthcare facilities ( 6). Furthermore, telemedicine may facilitate social distancing and limit face-to-face encounters in hospitals and clinics, hence preventing the spread of infectious diseases such as COVID-19 by physical contact. To this purpose, telemedicine services may alleviate pressure on the healthcare system by saving time and resources and strengthening healthcare's efficiency and accessibility. Furthermore, COVID-19 has put further strain on the already frail healthcare systems in LMICs. Particularly given that out-of-pocket payments for healthcare services make for a considerable share of overall health spending in many LMICs that have no general health insurance available ( 5). Nevertheless, adopting telemedicine into clinical practice in LMICs may be a means to lower costs and conserve resources in the long run, thereby alleviating the burden of out-of-pocket spending and boosting the population's access to affordable healthcare. Oftentimes, in LMICs, government approval is required for the use of telemedicine, including well-defined regulations, legislation, and funding to facilitate telemedicine development and implementation, which may delay the adoption of telemedicine in such contexts. However, in many LMICs, telemedicine implementation and integration into the existing healthcare system are challenging and may be a result of the high initial costs associated with telemedicine technologies, technological requirements such as reliable internet connectivity, or coordination issues between various sectors and stakeholders such as health ministries, science and technology ministries, local governments, and community hospitals. Similarly, many LMICs, including India, Lebanon and China, have already implemented telemedicine platforms that were extensively used during the COVID-19 pandemic ( 4). Telemedicine services have made significant contributions to strengthen health care delivery, including screening patients for COVID-19 symptoms and offering online medical and mental health consultations throughout the pandemic. Since the COVID-19 epidemic, Langone Health Center in New York City reported an increase in telemedicine visits from 102.4 to 801.6 per day between March and April 2020, implying a 683% increase in visits in less than a month ( 3). The Ebola contact tracing mobile application (app) was used to remotely monitor and track Ebola patients to halt the virus's spread from infected to uninfected individuals ( 2). Between 20, telemedicine services were also employed to help contain the Ebola outbreak in Africa. Telemedicine services have been successfully deployed in combatting previous infectious disease outbreaks in LMICs, including the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2003 and the middle east respiratory syndrome (MERS) outbreak in 2015 considerably improving the healthcare system's response ( 1). Using telemedicine to mitigate the spread of infectious diseases is not unprecedented.

Globally, the introduction and use of telemedicine and telecare platforms has significantly grown in the context of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

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